Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $138.24 Million Stock Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,560,792 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 179,894 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Avantor were worth $138,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Avantor by 122.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $790,000 after acquiring an additional 16,818 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 76,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after purchasing an additional 7,592 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new stake in Avantor during the third quarter worth approximately $2,575,000. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd bought a new stake in Avantor in the third quarter worth approximately $497,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Avantor by 557.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,675,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,950,000 after buying an additional 3,963,912 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Avantor stock opened at $16.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.42. Avantor, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.37 and a 12-month high of $28.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $65,877.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $86,019.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AVTR. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price objective (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

Avantor Company Profile

Avantor, Inc engages in the provision of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education and government, advanced technologies, and applied materials industries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers materials and consumables, such as purity chemicals and reagents, lab products and supplies, formulated silicone materials, customized excipients, customized single-use assemblies, process chromatography resins and columns, analytical sample prep kits, education and microbiology products, clinical trial kits, peristaltic pumps, and fluid handling tips.